BERLIN - With controversy swirling over her gender, South African teenager Caster Semenya bowed her head to received the gold medal for her 800-metre world title on Thursday as officials and family came to her defence.

The 18-year-old Semenya dominated her rivals to win the 800 by a commanding margin on Wednesday despite revelations that surfaced earlier in the day that she was undergoing a gender verification test because of concerns she does not meet the requirements to compete as a woman.

When asked by a reporter while walking into the medal ceremony how she was feeling, Semenya smiled and said, "Good, man."

Semenya waved to the crowd as she mounted the podium at the Olympic Stadium to receive her gold medal. Dressed in a yellow and green track suit, she then stood with her hands behind her back and mouthed the words to the South African national anthem as the country's flag was raised.

Afterward, she flashed a big smile as she posed for photographers with her medal.

"She said to me she doesn't see what the big deal is all about," South Africa team manager Phiwe Mlangeni-Tsholetsane said. "She believes it is God given talent and she will exercise it."

About three weeks ago, the IAAF asked the South African athletics federation to conduct the gender test after Semenya burst onto the scene by posting a world leading time of one minute 56.72 seconds at the African junior championships in Bambous, Mauritius.

The teenager's stunning improvement in times, along with her muscular build and deep voice, sparked speculation about her gender. On Wednesday - the day of her first world championship final - revelations surfaced she was undergoing the test.

South African athletics federation president Leonard Chuene staunchly defended the teenager Thursday, and insisted Semenya is facing intense scrutiny because she is African.

"It would not be like that if it were some young girl from Europe," Chuene told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "If it was a white child, she would be sitting somewhere with a psychologist, but this is an African child."

Chuene also said there was no evidence to prove Semenya was doing anything wrong.

"If there was evidence, she would have been stopped," Chuene said. "Where I come from, you're innocent until proven guilty.

"They're judging her based on what?" Chuene added. "Who can give me conclusive evidence? I want someone to do that."

Semenya did not attend the medal winners' news conference after winning Wednesday night's race by a margin of more than two seconds in 1:55.45. She was replaced at the dais by IAAF general secretary Pierre Weiss.

Weiss said the testing was ordered because of "ambiguity, not because we believe she is cheating."

If the tests show that Semenya is not a woman, she would be stripped of her gold medal, Weiss said.

The verification test, which takes weeks to complete, requires a physical medical evaluation, and includes reports from a gynecologist, endocrinologist, psychologist, an internal medicine specialist and an expert on gender.

"We have to be very scrupulously fair and sensitive about" the issue, IAAF spokesman Nick Davies said Thursday. "It's all very well people saying she's a man, she looks like a man - that's not good enough. You have to be very careful and cautious about that."

Davies added that Semenya has already undergone some of the necessary tests at specialist hospitals in South Africa and Berlin. He said that some of the documents in Berlin on Semenya's case were leaked.

Gender testing used to be mandatory for female athletes at the Olympics, but the screenings were dropped in 1999.

One reason for the change was that not all women have standard female chromosomes. In addition, there are cases of people who have ambiguous genitalia or other congenital conditions.

The most common cause of sexual ambiguity is congenital adrenal hyperplasia, an endocrine disorder where the adrenal glands produce abnormally high levels of hormones.

Morris Gilbert, a media consultant for TuksSport, the University of Pretoria's sports department, said the issue of Semenya's gender has not been raised since the 18-year-old freshman began attending the school, where she studies sports science.

He attributed her recent success to hard work and rigorous training.

"She trains a lot," Gilbert said. "If you go to the athletics track, you're sure to find her there. I don't think she had really good training before she came to the university. She's from a very poor area."

But Semenya's former school headmaster said he thought for years that the student was a boy.

"She was always rough and played with the boys. She liked soccer and she wore pants to school. She never wore a dress. It was only in Grade 11 that I realized she's a girl," Eric Modiba, head of the Nthema Secondary School, told the Beeld newspaper.

Semenya's family in the village of Fairlie, about 500 kilometres north of Johannesburg, said she was often teased about her boyish looks.

"That's how God made her," said Semenya's cousin, Evelyn Sekgala. "We brought her up in a way that when people start making fun of her, she shouldn't get upset."

Semenya moved to Fairlie at about the age of 13 to help care for her grandmother, Maphuthi Sekgala.

Her cousin Evelyn, who also lives with the grandmother, remembers Semenya playing football with the village boys, before a teacher got her interested in running.

Evelyn said the family was pleased Semenya took up an interest in sports, and not in drinking and partying like other teenagers.

Her grandmother would give her money to enter races.

"She was mainly interested in running," Evelyn said. "She wanted to further her athletic dream."

While Semenya's case has attracted a flurry of attention, it's not the first gender controversy in track and field history.

In 2006, the Asian Games 800 champion, Santhi Soundarajan of India, was stripped of her medal after failing a gender test. Perhaps the most famous case is that of Stella Walsh, also known as Stanislawa Walasiewicz, a Polish athlete who won gold in the 100 at the 1932 Olympics, and was later found to have had ambiguous genitalia.

She's big and strong, OBVIOUSLY she can't be a woman. Women are weak and dainty.

For her sake, I hope she doesn't have one of bajillions of chromosomal intersex or hormonal disorders and get stripped because of something retarded like that.It won by more than 2 seconds. Has the build of a man, the voice of a man.

I got the impression that she was a poor person from Africa. Typically they don't have access to such surgeries, and if they did it would be pretty apparent what happened.

WoodDraw

08-20-2009, 05:02 PM

She either was born with a pistol or an holster. It's not red-rocket science.

It's actually a lot more complicated than that. To quote "The Science of Sport" blog:

Second, even genetic testing cannot confirm male or female. In fact, it is so complex that to do proper sex determination testing, you have to take a multi-disciplinary approach, and make use of internal medicine specialists, gynecologists, psychologists, geneticists and endocrinologists. I am afraid that dropping your pants is not proof at all.

The entire thing is sad though. Regardless of how it ends up, remember she's only 18. And this has never been a case of willful cheating. If she ends up being disqualified it will be for some type of genetic disorder, not deceit.

But the entire situation has been handled poorly. I hope it all gets sorted out quickly. Last time this played out in the media, the person ended up trying to commit suicide.

listopencil

08-20-2009, 08:30 PM

Last time this played out in the media, the person ended up trying to commit suicide.

I didn't know that, that is truly horrific. To take someone with such a great spirit, with the heart of a champion, and reduce them to a suicidal state...horrific.

opraider

08-20-2009, 09:29 PM

Damn that dudes fast, and he wasn't even wearing a bikini bottom like the rest of the ladies!

Damn that dudes fast, and he wasn't even wearing a bikini bottom like the rest of the ladies!Her twig and berries would have fallen out...

Ultra Peanut

08-21-2009, 12:23 AM

You people are fuckin' gross.

I didn't know that, that is truly horrific. To take someone with such a great spirit, with the heart of a champion, and reduce them to a suicidal state...horrific.Golly, it's almost as if even being perceived as gender nonconforming leads to awful ostracization from "normal" people.

DaneMcCloud

08-21-2009, 12:31 AM

I was hoping that this topic wouldn't be raised on the 'Planet.

It makes me sad that people can be so obsessed with winning and so biased against men and women that don't fit the "beauty mold" that this could be actually be a worldwide "story".

I feel for her and her family.

Valiant

08-21-2009, 12:46 AM

Here's a test...does it have a penis? No? Does it have a vagina? Yes?

Test done.

And what if she had an operation or takes drugs to give her more males hormones.. If either is the case she needs to be kicked out..

Valiant

08-21-2009, 12:49 AM

I was hoping that this topic wouldn't be raised on the 'Planet.

It makes me sad that people can be so obsessed with winning and so biased against men and women that don't fit the "beauty mold" that this could be actually be a worldwide "story".

I feel for her and her family.

If she just happens to be a really ugly girl with a man's body then I agree with you..

But, if it gets found out that she used to be a guy or takes male hormones then she deserves nuthooks..

And winning should matter, it is the most competitive field out there to compete in..

Lumpy

08-21-2009, 12:50 AM

If she ends up being a he and can do a "tuck & run", that deserves a damn medal!

BigMeatballDave

08-21-2009, 12:55 AM

If she ends up being a he and can do a "tuck & run", that deserves a damn medal!ROFL

BigMeatballDave

08-21-2009, 12:58 AM

This...And what if she had an operation or takes drugs to give her more males hormones.. If either is the case she needs to be kicked out..
If she just happens to be a really ugly girl with a man's body then I agree with you..

But, if it gets found out that she used to be a guy or takes male hormones then she deserves nuthooks..

And winning should matter, it is the most competitive field out there to compete in.....and that...

I think we need some gender identification on this one. Can I get a ruling judges?

Consistent1

08-21-2009, 05:24 AM

Here's a test...does it have a penis? No? Does it have a vagina? Yes?

Test done.

I just texted Wendler. Sadly I am being ignored. Don't know what the fuck he is doing, but he has not shown up to conduct the test yet. We need to know homey. You might have a nice time bro.....

Duck Dog

08-21-2009, 08:28 AM

You people are ****in' gross.

Golly, it's almost as if even being perceived as gender nonconforming leads to awful ostracization from "normal" people.

WE? LOL....ROFL

We're fucking gross. ROFL

Ultra Peanut

08-21-2009, 11:44 AM

Yes, you. You and people like you are fucking monstrous. Hope that helps.

Ebolapox

08-21-2009, 12:33 PM

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f5/Futurama_ep67.jpg

Hail, Hail Robonia. A place that I Didn't make up.

:)

CoMoChief

08-21-2009, 12:35 PM

I see no bulge in the pants.........so I guess he's a she.........if male, you'd see a huge manaconda bulging out .......cuz Hey .......brotha's be packin'

CoMoChief

08-21-2009, 12:36 PM

I think we need some gender identification on this one. Can I get a ruling judges?

What is.....someone that needs to be deported out into space, Alex?

BigMeatballDave

08-21-2009, 12:50 PM

I see no bulge in the pants.........so I guess he's a she.........if male, you'd see a huge manaconda bulging out .......cuz Hey .......brotha's be packin'Look. More proof that you're a moron...

morphius

08-21-2009, 12:51 PM

It's actually a lot more complicated than that. To quote "The Science of Sport" blog:

The entire thing is sad though. Regardless of how it ends up, remember she's only 18. And this has never been a case of willful cheating. If she ends up being disqualified it will be for some type of genetic disorder, not deceit.

But the entire situation has been handled poorly. I hope it all gets sorted out quickly. Last time this played out in the media, the person ended up trying to commit suicide.
That was my thought as well, could very easily just be a genetic/hormone disorder if anything. And really, the hair style does nothing to help her look feminine.

Cave Johnson

08-21-2009, 12:53 PM

I was hoping that this topic wouldn't be raised on the 'Planet.

It's as if you doubt this place has the empathy, understanding, or nuance to address issues such as this.....

RippedmyFlesh

08-21-2009, 01:01 PM

The verification test, which takes weeks to complete, requires a physical medical evaluation, and includes reports from a gynecologist, endocrinologist, psychologist, an internal medicine specialist and an expert on gender.

Even in SF I wouldn't need weeks to know.
To me this isn't a trans gender social issue it's simple.
If this person is a he then he cheated plain and simple.